Nikos Katikis wins ProGrade Digital photo of the year

With 22.9% of the vote, Katikis won out over Thomas Fenetre (16.9%) and Bastien Baudin (12.2%), after the intial list of nominees had been whittled down to ten photographs for the public vote.

Katikis was modest upon hearing that his photo, shot on what turned out to be the final stage at Rally Mexico, had won. "I think this photo is more 'in the right place at the right moment' result than pure skill," the photographer told wrc.com.

He added: "I tried to put all the protaginists in the same frame, the car of course, the horse and the flag. The helicopter was just something extra that made the photo a little more interesting as well as the way that the driver is losing the racing line, giving some more 'action' sense to the picture."

Naturally, Katikis was also thankful to the fans for their support. "I would like to thank the fans of WRC and motorsport in general that voted for my photo. It is a big honour for me to have my photo voted as 'photo of the year.'

"There is a lot of effort and sacrifices behind each photo of a professional WRC photographer. I would like to say that all of the ten final photos were amazing and each one of them could be the winner."

The photographers will be back in action when the 2021 season gets underway at Rallye Monte-Carlo from 21-24 January.